The New Dressmaker/Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
SEAMS
French Seam—Turned-in French Seam—Fell French Seam—Flat Fell Seam—Lapped Fell Seam—Roll Seam—Plain Seams Pinked—Plain Seams Bound—Joined Seams—Ordinary Tailored Seam—Broad Seam—Cord or Tucked Seam—Welt Seam—Double-Stitched Welt Seam—Open Welt Seam—Slot Seam—Double-Stitch Slot Seam—Strap Seam—Lapped or Imitation Strap Seam—Raw Edge Lapped Seam
Ill. 147. French Seam
A FRENCH SEAM is a double seam used to encase raw seam edges. Baste the two edges evenly together on the right side of the garment, and sew close to the edge. (Ill. 147.) Trim off the ravelings and turn the wrong side of the garment toward you, creasing at the seam. Make the second sewing a sufficient depth to cover the raw edges. (Ill. 147.) This seam is used for thin materials and for dainty garments where it is not desirable to show stitching on the right side. It should be used on edges that are easily turned.
Ill. 148. Turned-in French Seam
A TURNED-IN FRENCH SEAM is used when the lines of a garment are such that this seam is more practical than the regular French seam. It is used on edges that are very much curved, and on edges that have been basted at the finished sewing line and can be finished more easily this way. Make the usual plain seam on the wrong side of the garment.
Ill. 149. Fell French Seam
Turn in both edges of the seam toward each other, turning each side the same amount. (Ill. 148.) Baste the edges together and then stitch them or finish them by top-stitching. (Chapter 16, page 83.)
A FELL FRENCH SEAM is made with the usual plain seam on the wrong side of the garment. The edge that is toward you should be trimmed down to ⅛ of an inch width. Turn the other edge toward you ⅛ of an inch and bring it to the seam line. (Ill. 149.) Finish it with a hemming stitch, Illustration 149, or by machine, or with small running stitches.
Ill. 150. Flat Fell or Flat Stitched Seam
A FLAT FELL OR STITCHED SEAM has one edge hemmed down covering the other raw edge. It is used principally for wash garments such as muslin underwear made in medium-weight materials, for flannels, tailored waists and working aprons.
Baste the seam edges together on the
Ill. 151. Lapped Fell or Stitched Seam
wrong side of the garment and sew the seam with combination stitch. If the edges are bias, sew from the broad part of the piece to the narrow part to prevent the material from raveling and stretching.
Remove the bastings and trim the edge toward you close to the sewing line. (Ill. 150.) Turn the other edge flatly over it, pressing hard with the thumb nail. Make a narrow turn, baste and hem. (Ill. 150.) This seam can be stitched by machine if preferred.
Ill. 152. Rolled Seam
A LAPPED FELL OR STITCHED SEAM is used on flannels, tailored waists or where there is no right or wrong side. Lap one edge of the seam over the other with the seam lines exactly over each other and baste through the seam lines. Trim off the ravelings from the edges and turn the edges under so that they meet. (Ill. 151.) The edge on each side may be sewed with a hemming stitch or by machine. (Ill. 151.)
A ROLLED SEAM is used in sheer materials where an unusually narrow joining is required, and the material is likely to ravel or fray. Hold the seam edges together and trim off all the ravelings. Begin at the right end and roll the edges tightly between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand keeping the edges rolled for about 1½ inch ahead of the sewing. Whip the roll very close together making the stitches come under the roll and not through it. Draw the thread tight. (Ill. 152.) This seam will form a small roll.
TAILORED SEAMS
Ill. 153. Edge of Plain Seam Pinked
IN TAILORED garments keep the cloth smooth at the seams and make the stitching as even as possible and press carefully.
PLAIN SLAMS PINKED—In plain seams of very closely woven material that does not fray or ravel, the edges of the seams may be simply notched or pinked, and pressed open. (Ill. 153.)
PLAIN SEAMS BOUND—Plain seams of jackets, cloaks and other garments made of heavy material that will fray should be bound with satin, silk or farmers' satin. This is cut in bias 
Ill. 154. Binding Seam Edges
strips just a trifle wider than the depth of the seam after it is closed. Stitch the binding on the right side of the seam edge close to the edge, then baste it flat, covering the edge. Close the seam of the garment with bastings catching through both cloth and bindings. Then stitch.
A better way, requiring more labor, however, is to stitch the seam and press it open. After pressing, the seam will have spread at the edges, especially if it is curved, and the binding can be safely applied without any chance of pulling later.
Use a seam binding wide enough to cover the edge nicely. Fold the binding through the center and press it with a warm iron. Slip the binding over the edge of the seam with the binding a little easy so that there is no danger of drawing the edge. Sew the binding on with a running stitch or stitch it by machine, catching the edge of the binding on both sides of the seam edge. (Ill. 154.)
WHEN TRIMMING is to be applied over seams, the plain seam is used. It should be finished completely and pressed before the trimming is added.
 Ill. 155. Stitching on One Side of Seam |
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JOINED SEAMS of garments in which the lining is cut like the outer pattern and stitched together, are finished by turning in the raw edges of the seams of both cloth and lining toward each other and closing the edge with over-hand or running stitches. Where the seam is curved, the edges must be notched every now and then to prevent the garment from pulling at such points.
Ill. 157. Broad Seam Stitch
AN ORDINARY TAILORED SEAM, which makes a good, neat finish is the plain seam pressed with both edges turned to one side, and a row of machine stitching run in neatly along the one side of the seam from the right side of the garment as shown in Illustration 155. Or, if preferred, a row of stitching may be applied to each side of the seam (Ill. 156.) In the latter case, however, the seam should be pressed open before running in the stitching.
Ill. 158. Cord or Tuck Seam
A BROAD SEAM is a plain, wide seam with four rows of ornamental stitching. (Ill. 157.) This seam is mostly used on tailored garments of heavy materials.
A CORD OR TUCK SEAM is a plain seam with both edges turned to one side, and a row of stitching run about one-fourth of an inch from the seam, through the three thicknesses of the goods. This creates a raised or cord-like effect. (Ill. 158.) The undesirable thickness on the under side may be cut away at the inner edge as close to the stitching as possible.
 Ill. 159. Welt Seam |
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Ill. 161. Open Welt
A WELT SLAM is made by first stitching a plain seam with the one edge of the material left very narrow. Then turn back the fold and baste down close along the narrower seam edge. Stitch parallel to the line of bastings, keeping the seam flat. Illustration 159 shows this seam with the machine-stitches ripped out at the top to expose the narrow seam edge underneath.
A DOUBLE-STITCHED WELT SEAM has an additional row of stitching set in one-fourth inch or less from the edge. (Ill. 160.)
AN OPEN WELT SEAM is first basted as for a plain seam. The tuck is then basted down flat, with the stitches directly over the line of bastings in the seam. With one row of machine-stitching the tuck-like fold and the seam are made secure. (Ill. 161.)
Ill. 162. Reverse Side of Slot Seam
A SLOT SEAM is made by basting the seam as for a plain seam. The basting stitches should be short enough to keep the seam firm while it is being pressed open. Then baste an understrip of the material a trifle narrower than the combined width of the seam edges, directly under the basted seam. (Ill. 162.) From the right side, stitch the desired width on each side of the center. Remove the bastings. The turned edges, now free, give the slot appearance, whence the name. (Ill. 163.)
Ill. 163. Double-Stitched Slot Seam
A DOUBLE-STITCHED SLOT SEAM is produced by stitching another row each side of the center, close to the turned edges. (Ill. 163.)
STRAP SEAMS are plain seams over which straps of the material are stitched for ornamental purposes. The strips for these straps may be cut lengthwise of plain material from pieces that are left after cutting out the garment, but experience has taught that when silk 
Ill. 164. Strop Seam
is used it is better to cut them on the bias, and then the material is cloth the better result will be obtained if the straps are cut crosswise or bias of the goods.
For a finished strap, that is five-eights of an inch wide, the strips are cut one and one-fourth inches wide. Join the two raw edges with loose over-hand stitches as shown in Illustration 137, page 82; spread out the strap with the line of joining directly on the center, and press.
Ill. 165. Lapped or Imitation Strapped Seam
When making strap seams it is desirable to graduate the thickness at the seams as much as possible. For this reason, cut the seams either wide enough so the edges on the underside will extend beyond the edges of the strap, or cut them narrower so the edges of the strap will extend beyond the seam edges.
Baste the straps carefully over the seams, with a line of bastings run along each edge. (Ill. 164.) When it is necessary to piece the straps for long seams, avoid having the joining seam in a prominent place on the garment.
A LAPPED OR IMITATION STRAP SEAM is the most practical finish for unlined garments. The edges at the seams are lapped and the raw edges turned in with a row of stitches finishing it alike on the right and wrong sides. (Ill. 165.)
Ill. 166. Raw-Edge Lapped Seam
A RAW-EDGE LAPPED SEAM is used in making garments of heavy, closely woven material that will not fray or ravel. The seam edges must be cut very accurately and smoothly. Baste the edges evenly, lapping them the full allowance, and stitch as near the edge of the upper lap as possible. A second row of stitching five-eighths of an inch from the first gives it a neat and tailored finish. The seam on the under side should be trimmed off evenly. (Ill. 166.)
One should be very careful in deciding on the style of seam used on a tailored garment. Tweeds, homespuns, friezes, and all other rather loosely woven woolen materials should be finished with bound seams. In linens, pongees and crashes one should use the cord, bound or lapped seam. Broadcloth, meltons, kerseys, covert, and other heavy driving cloths can be pinked, as they are so closely woven that they will not ravel. To have a good tailored look the machine-stitchings on any seam must not be too fine. The thread and needle should be of medium thickness and the stitch should correspond in size.